That sure is a bright red colour. On a steamed lobster, that colour is ok, but when that colour is the colour of a person’s body…not so much.

That’s pretty much how I looked this afternoon, after having an allergic reaction (we think) to ginger. David made a ginger soaked ahi tuna for lunch, crusted with sesame seeds and various other marinades, but he used a LOT of ginger.

Usually, I do not have a reaction to ginger at all – I love the stuff an can eat a whole plate of it when we go to sushi – however, this was raw ginger not the pickled variety you get at a sushi restaurant.

Anyway – not 30 minutes later, I’m on the phone with a coworker and I feel my face start to flush, I get light-headed, and my head starts throbbing. Within 5 minutes, almost my entire body was red, my face was swelling up, my heart was racing, and I was started to get chills.

I wrapped up in a blanket, after taking a benadryl and two ibuprofin, and laid down on the couch shivering. According to our faulty thermometer I did not have a fever, but I was shaking as if I was.

For probably 2 hours my body continued to be bright red and puffy from all the blood at the surface, and my heart continued to race. And then it passed. I started to regain my normal skin colour, the pounding headache went away (since my heart rate was slowing down), and in general I felt much better.

But I have to say it was rather freaky having your entire body bright red and warm, while shivering underneath a cover.

Be mindful of what you eat .